Description

At some point during the 1980's the world has become a stage of battle between the Federation and the Empire. The latter sees itself as the successor state to the malevolent Badds, also known as the Nazz. One day, the Federation discovers that the Imperial leader Generalissimo Killt decides to complete an unfinished project codenamed "Albatros" and started by the Badds. The Federation sends their hero Super Joe to stop the Empire's plans, but he is captured. Ladd Spencer, a member of the special FF Battalion, is dispatched to rescue Super Joe and uncover the enemy's secrets.

This version of Bionic Commando is loosely based on the original arcade game and its computer ports, having different levels and plot. The protagonist is a soldier with a bionic arm that extends and contracts. His arm allows him to grab on to fixed objects to swing around and climb up platforms, which is the only way to do so due to the lack of a jumping ability. The arm also grabs opponents and pulls them towards the player character.

After most levels the Bionic Commando will receive items. Often these items are required to successfully complete other levels. Additionally, each level will require a different colored communicator in order to make sense of message traffic.

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Trivia

Name

The player character's name in the NES version is Ladd. It's not mentioned in the manual nor in the game until the ending sequence.

Version differences

In the original Japanese version the Empire is a neo-Nazi state led by the revived Adolf Hitler. Most references to that were removed in the localized Western releases of the game: all swastikas were replaced by generic flags with eagles, the leader of the Empire was named Killt instead of the more German-sounding Weizmann, etc. Fragments of the original setting survived in the alternate name of the Empire's predecessors, the Nazz, as well as in the unchanged graphics depicting Hitler, though his name was changed to Master-D.